I feel like the odd woman out when people start doing "diet talk" in the office. And when I say diet talk, I mean *kitten* like "I'm going to replace 2 meals with shakes", "I'm going to cut out my carbs", etc. I hate being the naysayer all the time, but it's really hard to listen to that crap knowing that they will stick with it for a few days or weeks until they dive head first into junk food again.

I don't say anything because it's none of my business what they do with their body unless I'm specifically asked, but it does stand out that I'm not giving them verbal support or feedback when they start going on about the evil carbs *insert eye roll here*.

I just keep doing what I'm doing. Prepping whole, healthy foods and enjoying my *gasp* carbs!

I feel like the odd man out now. I'm so heavy that my relatives stopped asking me if I could help on projects. I used to work in construction and when it came time for a large project, family members would pitch in together to build a deck, or put in replacement windows or any number of other projects. Now, no one asks me to help.

>> Do you now, or have you ever felt like the "odd person out" in pursuit of your weight loss goals?

Yeah, its sometimes weird drinking soda when everyone else is on their 3rd or 5th beer. Or making weekend plans that are food-centric (think: Wine festival! Chocolate festival! Chili competition!) I just bow out of those things because its not worth the stress and/or cost if I'm not going to eat my money's worth.

Most of the time, though, its not an issue. Even when friends are having Superbowl (or other sportsy sporting event), I go to the party. There are always some reasonable choices, and no one really notices what I do or do not put on my plate. So I don't feel left out or odd.

The first thing that comes to my mind is how I used to feel in work environments. I got along well with colleagues, have always been mindful of time and budget management, felt like I could function relatively well both in the field (natural resources career) and in the office setting. Over the last few years, I've given many presentations to municipal officials and other audiences. Of course, I would prepare and do a good job with them as well. However, I did feel like the odd man out at times.

As I got bigger I got uneasy around colleagues. I noticed I would get pre-occupied and self-conscious about me, losing concentration on the matter at hand. Field work obviously became more challenging as it was harder to literally pull my own weight. While I still did good work, especially around thinner colleagues, my pre-occupation with my weight was just a noticeable change, totally off-topic state-of-mind. When giving a presentation, I would practically dive behind the podium to hide my size. Thinking back, it was stressful, compounded by wanting it to change but never moving from wanting to doing.

Having now lost considerable weight, I can move much easier and the per-occupation with my size is essentially gone. I do not wander off in my thoughts thinking about my size when engaged in conversations with colleagues. I no longer anchor myself to the podium and feel free to move about the room when giving presentations.

This transformation is just one of the reasons I choose to do this another day.

Maybe I misunderstood the question? I thought it was about losing weight and feeling odd because so many of the people around us are not.

If the question was really about -- did I feel odd at 350#? Yes. Yes, I did.

Murple